Pat Crawford
My name is Pat Crawford, born in 1951, therefore at time of writing, approaching my 70th birthday.
I have been retired since 2012. For the last 25 years of my professional life I worked in the field of visual impairment. firstly with a local charity which provides support services to blind and visually impaired people and secondly with a major national charity whose principle remit is to offer mobility services. Much of my time was taken up with supporting and advising VIP in adapting to their sight loss, as well as raising awareness of the needs of people with both blindness and sight impairment through educational but practical awareness training programmes delivered to professionals within the health, social care and educational sectors.
I have been totally blind since 2003, having gradually lost sight over a lifetime due to the hereditary condition Retinitis Pigmentosa which is typically characterised by gradually diminished peripheral loss of vision, often referred to as "tunnel vision". The death of peripheral retinal cells causes "night blindness). With reduced peripheral vision seeing movement became difficult and compromised my safe mobility as objects, obstacles and hazards often went undetected, whereas the remaining healthy central cells of the retina provided a relatively good but narrow field of vision until eventually these cells died leading to my complete sight loss Therefore I have experienced and been aware of the effects of diminishing vision from an early age,, until in my mid-teenage years that my sight was described as "chronic" when I began to realise the likelihood of blindness that awaited me. With significant negative cost to my well-being, coping strategies to manage the variable vision dependent on indoor and outdoor light levels, with no night-time sight nor in low lighting conditions enabled me to function relatively successfully.
I have lived experience of a range of different types of vision showing me the world in many different ways. Recognising the impact my personal experience of sight loss has had on my life opportunities, and a realisation this would be the case for other people with loss of their primary sense, I developed an interest in encouraging awareness of what people see and do not see because of visual impairment and promote a wider understanding visual impairment, and to further promote the concept of inclusivity in all aspects of life for people with this particular disability. The impairment of vision imposes limitations for each individual and it is the responsibility of the individual to adapt, with the necessary level of support and information, but it is the action and attitude of society which presents barriers and limitations thus disabling people with any impairment and which needs to alter in order to achieve full inclusivity and equality of opportunity..
As for how I see the world - having finally lost my vision completely which was inevitable, I believe I see it in the same way as everybody else through the pictures in my mind and with the deft descriptions given by those around me. After all, vision for each one of us is an interpretation of what we imagine we perceive. With no remaining sight whatsoever at least I know exactly what I am dealing with after the long years of struggling and straining to see as well as fearing total blindness - I would like to reassure anyone who may be fearing or facing total sight loss, that I find it is not so bad after all and in fact has given me a sense of relief. Although I have no vision, not even light perception, I live my life in colour reflected in the clothes I wear, the decor of my home and the plants I have chosen in my garden - and alongside this I have enriched them with texture, sound and fragrance.
However, with regard to inclusivity and accessibility in life I have learnt to develop an unerring wish to strive for VIP to have the opportunity to enjoy and participate in the arts and daily activities of life which non-visually impaired people take for granted. It at times feels like an uphill struggle or a battle to raise awareness of issues confronted by VIP be it arranging provision of information in a person's accessible format.
